Chapter 10 – The Unexpected

Chapter 10: The Unexpected

Delfin restrained the captured soldier and tied him to the saddle. It was to prevent him from escaping while also using him as a shield in case of an ambush.

“Guide us. Through the route you came in.”

“B-but! The Red Wyvern might still be there!”

“Are you going to fear a monster you might or might not encounter? Or are you going to fear my sword that you can meet right now?”

When she grabbed the sword hilt, the soldier said he understood and stepped forward to guide them. He might not die to a monster, but he would definitely die to Delfin. Realizing this simple logic, he began to cooperate actively.

“Anne. Could you watch to make sure he doesn’t guide us to a strange place?”

“Yes, Del sir. For now… looking at where he’s pointing, it does seem to be the right path to the mountain.”

She must not let her guard down. The opponent was an enemy soldier. It seemed true that he had deserted, but what if he encountered his allies? He could change his mind at any time, so it was right to be careful.

She put the soldier tied to the saddle at the very front. Delfin and Anne followed behind, paying careful attention.

“The Lind Kingdom, you say. Something I never imagined has happened.”

“I was surprised too. Occasionally people from the Lind Kingdom do come, but they were all wanderers who had drifted in due to various circumstances.” 

“Are there many people who were from the Lind Kingdom in Nosland?”

“There are five in our village alone.”

Considering the size of the village, five was by no means a small number. Though it was difficult to manage due to various circumstances, it was clearly Empire territory. To think so many wanderers from the Lind Kingdom had entered such a place.

‘When I return later, I must definitely tell His Majesty about this part.’

Perhaps the Lind Kingdom army’s entry was also thanks to that.

Some safe routes might have become known among the wanderers. If the enemy had used that route, it would be natural that no one knew.

“F-from there.”

The soldier who had stopped walking pointed ahead and spoke.

His voice was filled with fear. His face was full of terror. She wondered if it might be deception, but it didn’t seem like acting at all.

“Please, I beg you. I don’t want to go any further.”

“Be quiet and walk quickly.”

“That horse can only carry two people! You two can at least run away, but…”

“I’ve already shown enough mercy to an enemy soldier who invaded the Empire. Anything more is your luck. Walk.”

Once again, Delfin’s sharp warning followed. Eventually, the soldier moved forward while trembling all over.

“I’m sorry, Anne. You were a bit startled by my rough treatment, weren’t you?”

“No. If the Lind Kingdom army really came through, they would have passed through our village. They would have been worse than bandits, not better.”

Wanderers who came for survival and soldiers who came for ambushes were different. Those who cooperated and those who threatened. Those who would shed sweat and those who would shed blood.

When Anne pointed this out, Delfin also felt a bit more at ease.

“Del sir. Over there!”

“There really are traces of heavy burning.”

Stopping the horse and soldier, Delfin examined the scene. A completely burned cart. Various weapons that had been loaded inside.

‘They said they set fire to lure the Red Wyvern…’

Something was strange. She felt an odd aura from the ashes. As if the flames that had consumed this had been some special existence.

Looking around more, she indeed found traces of hundreds of people. They had succeeded in infiltrating this far. They could have gone further.

But they encountered the Red Wyvern and all fled. Footprints heading toward the Empire were overlapped with footprints going back. Just as the deserter said, they had been chased by a monster and retraced their path!

It was amazing. The situation had aligned perfectly. No one in the Empire. Not even the northern people knew. If the Lind Kingdom army had entered, it wouldn’t have ended with just a commotion.

There, the being they called the Red Wyvern appeared. As if it had known everything. As if it had been waiting.

‘Looking closely, there’s not even a trace of spilled blood, let alone corpses. It means there was no hunting, not even a slight attack.’

Wyverns were monsters very difficult for humans to deal with. Their aggressiveness. Their cruelty. Plus their flight ability. Even Delfin would shudder recalling past experiences.

Especially when attacking prey, their cruelty was well displayed. They would dive from the sky, snatch and tear apart viciously. When you went to the Wyvern damage sites, the victims’ blood was scattered everywhere.

But this place was completely different from what she had seen before. There was no way a Wyvern would have just missed humans. The more she looked, the more questions arose.

“Del sir. What do you think?”

Anne asked for her opinion in a worried tone.

If it really was a Red Wyvern, the village would be in danger too. The village might fall within its territory.

“First, it’s true that the Lind Kingdom army came this far, Anne.”

“Ah…”

“But about the Red Wyvern, I think that’s probably wrong. I can’t find any traces anywhere that such a vicious monster stayed here.”

Having finished her investigation, Delfin returned to her spot.

“Please. Please let’s go. Rather, hand me over to the Empire army. Anywhere but here is fine.”

Meanwhile, the deserter had another fit as memories of that time came back. He looked like he might even have seizure symptoms from how terrifying it had been.

Eventually, Delfin left the place with Anne and the deserter. Even during this, there was no sign of a Wyvern anywhere in the sky. Only the sun in the distance looked unusually red.

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‘No matter how I think about it, what they saw wasn’t a Red Wyvern.’

After thinking and thinking, Delfin finally reached a conclusion.

She had thought and thought again all the way back. Had it really been a Wyvern? Had that dangerous existence been in the vicinity?

She couldn’t miss even the slightest possibility. Anne’s village was nearby. Innocent people lived there. One misjudgment on her part could kill hundreds of people.

So she had retraced it many times. She had reviewed it. But the conclusion had always been the same.

“Anne. I don’t think there’s a Wyvern.”

“That’s what I thought too, right? Actually, I was thinking the same thing.”

“You too, Anne?”

At Delfin’s counter-question, Anne nodded.

“I’ve never seen a Wyvern while living in the village. Not even while wandering around this area.”

“If Anne, who lived here, thinks so too.”

First, it wasn’t a Wyvern. Both of them had one less worry. Now one question remains here.

Then what had that deserter seen that day? Why had the Lind Kingdom army had fits and run away?

‘This is, probably.’ ‘This. Definitely.’

There, Delfin and Anne had similar yet different thoughts.

‘That existence. That red and massive bird. Definitely.’

‘It’s that person. The Red Bird sir. He saved the village again!’

One side touched her chin, unable to hide her curiosity. The other side smiled and conveyed gratitude inwardly.

The Red Bird. The one who had dyed the sky and world with flames. An existence that gave both fear and awe, terror and joy simultaneously.

“You worked hard, Anne. Here. This is the promised compensation.”

“Ah! Thank you, Del sir! …Huh? Wait a moment, Del sir. This is more than promised…”

“Use that for village restoration. I’d like to help more, but this is all I brought.”

At Delfin’s answer, Anne couldn’t hide her troubled expression. Perhaps she felt uncomfortable receiving more than promised.

“You have a kind heart. That’s all the more reason to accept it. People like Anne sometimes need luck.”

“Luck… I see.”

Luck. Come to think of it, she had received so much luck recently. She couldn’t just keep receiving forever. She would definitely repay this kindness. Anne swore this to herself again and again.

“Are you going back now, Del sir?”

“Yes. I need to go quickly and report this fact. I also need to hand this guy over.”

The Lind Kingdom had tried to stab the Empire in the back. As a knight of the Empire, it was urgent news she had to report.

As the two approached the village:

“Wait a moment, Anne.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The village looks a bit strange.”

“C-could it be that bandits came again?!”

Perhaps thinking of the younger brother left at home, Anne stamped her feet, not knowing what to do.

“That’s not it. I don’t see smoke or hear screams. So, that is…”

Suddenly, Delfin’s eyes widened greatly. A familiar flag in the distance caught her eye.

“His Majesty the Emperor?”

It had been a strange thing. In over a hundred years of living, this had never happened.

‘What is it this time?’

First, there had been the Dragon and the humans pursuing it. Next, there had been those who saw me and called me a monster or Phoenix. Recently, there have even been armed soldiers.

All had been people who were fighting or had come to fight. In that regard, today had been a very unique case.

‘The procession is incredibly splendid. The clothes and armor the humans are wearing are very shiny too.’

There was still so much I didn’t know about this world. But looking at that, I could tell someone important had come.

But why were they entering Anne’s village again? What should I do if their purpose was to cause harm?

I sat on the mountainside and continued watching the village situation. I intended to stop them if any action filled with malice emerged. I would intervene if innocent blood flowed and lives were extinguished.

Even if Blue Sky raised objections again, it didn’t matter. A god who remained silent while witnessing evil before their eyes was no god at all.